Effective March 31, Random House/Golden Books Young Readers Group v-p and publisher Kate Klimo will leave her position. She will be replaced by Mallory Loehr and Chris Angelilli. Loehr, v-p, editor-in-chief for Random House Books for Young Readers, is moving up to v-p, publishing director of the RH/Golden Books Young Readers Group where she will report to group head Chip Gibson; Angelilli is being promoted from v-p and editor-in-chief of Golden Books to v-p and editor-in-chief, executive director, licensed publishing. Angelilli will report to Loehr.
In the span of her 40-year career, Klimo has worked with the likes of Helen Oxenbury, Roz Chast, Sandra Boynton, Tasha Tudor, and Ruth Sanderson. She developed and launched a number of successful children's licensed publishing programs, including Sesame Street, Thomas the Tank Engine, Star Wars, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Disney, Nickelodeon, among others.
Klimo first joined Random House as a special projects editor in 1984. In 1989, she took over as editor-in-chief of Random House, working under Janet Schulman, and began developing in-house brands like Magic Tree House and Junie B. Jones; those two series have gone on to sell more than 150 million copies worldwide. Additionally, branded publishing lines at RH--Beginner Books, Step into Reading, Stepping Stones--have grown exponentially under Klimo's watch. In 2001, Klimo spearheaded the acquisition of Golden Books.
After she leaves her publishing post, Klimo will continue on as director of creative development for Media Assets Management Associates (MAMA), continuing her work turning books into TV shows, something she has already excelled at: six shows based on books are currently in development, and The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! is already a successful book-to-TV property on PBS Kids.
